


An Unlikely Pair

by fidgetyjoltik



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29169219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fidgetyjoltik/pseuds/fidgetyjoltik
Summary: What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?Mondo thinks about Kiyotaka and their relationship.
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka & Oowada Mondo, Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	An Unlikely Pair

Kiyotaka Ishimaru is the embodiment of stark contrast, made of sharp edges and clean straight lines. He’s never seen out of his uniform, crisp and white as paper, as much a part of him as his own skin. Black bookends the pristine white, velvety spikes on his head and matching leather laced up his calves. Stiff and upright, steps measured as a ruler. Left, right, left, right. He wouldn’t be out of place leading a marching band, were he musically inclined, or perhaps at the helm of a battalion. Everything he does, he does one thousand percent—his speaking voice is more of a shout, his frown a scowl, his tears a waterfall, his smile a beam of sunlight. Kiyotaka is paler than porcelain and stronger than steel, and his self-allowed margin of error is exactly zero.

Even scarce bits of color are striking against the backdrop of the monochrome boy. An armband. A medal. A gold button and four more, all in a perfect little row.

And a pair of brilliant red eyes.

Those eyes are something special. Red upon red, crimson ringed with scarlet, framed by tidy lashes and thick furrowed brows. They’re large and round and brimming with breathtaking intensity. They lock onto a target with laser-like focus and freeze it in place with hypnotic power. They hold no secrets; gaze into them and you learn more about Kiyotaka than he could ever tell you with words. And in turn, they see right into you, not picking apart or analyzing or even recognizing, only looking. Watching, studying, as though they’ll miss something crucial if they blink.

Look close enough, and you just might catch a glimpse of the embers that flicker behind Kiyotaka’s eyes, the fire that gives them a dim, hot glow even in the dark of night. It’s small, it’s subdued, but it’s always there. And only when he’s pushed to his absolute breaking point, grabbed by the collar and hurled over the edge, does the fire truly engulf them, engulf _him_. The sight of the Ultimate Moral Compass in that state, consumed and controlled by the flames that stream wildly from his eyes, is as rare as it is thoroughly terrifying. Few have provoked him that far, fewer have seen such an episode without immediately labeling him a freak, and fewer still have actually tried to understand what fuels those flames.

Mondo Owada falls squarely in the “fewer still” category.

They are what you would call an unlikely pair. Mondo is every bit as intense as Kiyotaka, but the two direct their energy toward vastly different objectives. Kiyotaka commits every fiber of his being to following rules, to working hard, to keeping those around him in line and helping them realize the potential that he wholeheartedly believes they possess. Mondo, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, prefers to spend his time breaking things—windows, bones, rules, resolves. He’s used to getting his way through intimidation, through brute force, with fists and muscles and roaring engines and icy lavender glares. So he found himself at somewhat of a loss when Kiyotaka stood his ground against him. When, for the first time in his life, Mondo’s coercion tactics didn’t produce the expected outcome.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Do they annihilate? Do they merge together, morph into something new? What results from such a clash of stubborn wills? Enmity? Acceptance? Friendship? Something more?

Perhaps the force and the object realize the futility of their mutual struggle. Perhaps they find common ground, come to acknowledge and appreciate each other’s strengths. And perhaps they begin to wonder what would happen if, instead of fighting each other, they joined forces. If they linked arms and took on the world together, supporting and defending each other the whole way. How far could they go? What could they accomplish?

Mondo considers the question, his gaze fixed on the boy asleep in his arms. This is a softer side of Kiyotaka, one that Mondo suspects is for his eyes only. With his hair tousled from Mondo’s ruffling, his jacket hung up and boots stowed away by the door, his brow relaxed and his eyelids shuttering that fierce robotic stare, Kiyotaka’s almost an entirely different person. The crystal-cut edges seem a bit blunter, the precise lines a bit gentler; the carefully separated black and white bleed and blend into soft greys. This is not Kiyotaka Ishimaru, the painstakingly polished hall monitor, the future prime minister and redeemer of his tarnished family name. This is just Taka, just a boy trying to scrape by in a world that’s stepped and spit on him for as long as he can remember.

Mondo knows how important it is for Kiyotaka to keep up appearances. He knows what his ambitions mean to him, how hard he’s worked to come this far and all the work that’s still to be done. But here, now, with just the two of them, the hall monitor can relax. Be himself for once.

And hell…Mondo can be himself too. Because who is he kidding, he’s not the all-powerful leader he makes himself out to be. Sure, he’s got bark, he’s got bite, but what he doesn’t have is charisma. He commands by force and fear because he _has_ to; it’s the only way he can ever get anyone to listen to him, to take him seriously. He wasn’t even the one who _built_ the Crazy Diamonds, for god’s sake. He’s living a lie, a disgusting gruesome lie. He’ll never, _ever_ be half the man his brother was. And that _haunts_ him.

But none of that seems to matter around Kiyotaka. With him, Mondo can drop the tough-guy act, the act that he never fell for in the first place. The act that those ever-inquisitive eyes saw through the instant they met his own.

Their lives are exhausting. Since far too young they’ve been dragged through their own individual hells, plagued by dollar signs, soiled suits, blaring horns and blinding headlights and bloodied white coats. Even if they’re Ultimates, they’re still kids, and they’re _exhausted_. It’s nothing short of a miracle that they’ve found each other, but at the very least, they can take solace in that fact. Together they can hide from the suffocating shadows they live under, even if just for a little while. When they find themselves battered by the storms of life, when everything around them crumbles to pieces, they can stay standing through it all, hand in hand. In a world that time and again has reveled in their despair, they are each other’s glimmers of hope.

They promised, back when they first settled their differences, to look out for each other. To be there for each other, in whatever form that might take—strength, comfort, protection, love—for as long as they lived.

Mondo Owada has broken countless things in his life. But he has never, and he _will_ never, break a promise.

How far can an unstoppable force go with an immovable object by its side?

_Pretty far,_ Mondo thinks, resting his cheek on Kiyotaka’s forehead. _Pretty damn far._

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this is my first time posting a fanfic! i have no idea if it's good or not so let me know what you think! thank you for reading :D


End file.
